Hold Me Under
by Takada Saiko
Summary: There's no question that Jane's biggest obstacle to being with Thor is her own frail mortality, so when Loki says that he may have discovered an ancient spell to help her she'll put all her faith in her lover's younger brother to make it happen. Part of my series. R
1. Part One

A/N: It's November. I need to go write on Eves of Rain. Plot bunnies are eating at my ankles though...

**PLEASE NOTE:**** this is part of my series and even if you have not read it, you should go back and read the short story Uninvited Guest. This story pulls from a conversation in that story.**

* * *

**Hold Me Under**

_And I could hear the thunder and see the lightning crack_

_All around the world was waking, I never could go back_

_Cause all the walls of dreaming, they were torn wide open_

_And finally it seemed that the spell was broken_

_Blinding_, Florence + the Machines

* * *

He'd been locked in the library for days and had barely left for necessities. Three days in Thor had seen him come out if only briefly for a bit of food, but otherwise he was not to be seen. Loki had cast various illusions and cloaking spells so that the elder prince couldn't quite pinpoint which corner of the vast space he'd nestled himself into, no matter how hard he looked. He thought he'd out-tricked the trickster at one brief moment on his second day of searching, following almost silently behind and hiding every time the younger prince looked, but when he finally reached out to clasp his shoulder his hand had gone right through, the image splitting in sparks of green and gold. The only other time he was sure he was remotely close to uncovering his brother's whereabouts was when he'd flung open a pair of doors that led to a section of the library Loki was particuarly fond of. It had taken hours to find the doors again as the room was cloaked in a heavy illusion that left him in a maze that moved with its own will. Or perhaps someone else's a bit more devious.

When Thor had begun his search he'd been thrilled at the prospect of a challenge. With the countless council meetings and other official duties he'd taken on since officially being named the crowned prince of Asgard, the thunderer was sure he would go mad with boredom. So when his brother had disappeared he'd chased after him with more focus than he might usually possess. He'd enjoyed the game at first, not having had this sort of playful challenge from the mischief god in many centuries, but five days in now he was beginning to lose patience.

So there he sat, leaned forward on one of the steps at the library's main entrance, chin placed firmly in the thick palms of his hands and elbows on his knees. He had been going over every possibility in his mind so hard and with such dedication that he never heard the footsteps on the far side of the stairs, nor even noticed that he was no longer alone until a smooth voice reached his ears.

"Sulking, are we?"

Thor startled, looking over to see Loki smiling that smile that won him most anything he desired.

"The game is over then?"

"You were never going to find me," the trickster answered as he took a seat next to him. He still wore that smile, and while there was no sign of wear visible on him, Thor could see it beyond his brother's projection. He was tired, having been working on something in his solitude that he didn't want anyone interfering with. This had been more than a silly game to lighten Thor's spirits.

"You are good at hiding things, including yourself," the elder prince answered with a small smile of his own. He leaned into Loki's thinner frame, giving him a playful shove that the other returned in like. "What is it you've been doing these last days?"

There was a spark in those green eyes, and the smile stretched broader. "Oh, just a bit of light reading. I thought you could use a distraction from the mundane before it drove you mad."

"Such a thoughtful brother."

"I am, aren't I?"

Thor chuckled at this, wrapping an arm around narrow shoulders and giving Loki no chance to squirm away as he pulled him closer into a hug. "But you'd tell me if anything was amiss, yes? We've promised each other enough times that we'd keep no more secret."

"I've promised you no such thing."

"Loki..."

This brought a laugh from the younger prince and instead of pulling away he surprised his brother when he leaned in. "All is well, Thor. There are times when I simply need my solitude. I was long overdue."

"Mm. Well then, if you're fully recharged from your studies, what do you say to a hunt? Or a camping trip? Or both?"

"You really are bored."

"I am," Thor admitted, his voice low as if he feared to be overheard. "And Father has kept me busy as if late. I fear he means to make me forget Jane."

"Ah," Loki breathed. "So by hunting, you really mean to go to Midgard?"

"No, but I'd like to leave Asgard's boarders. I need to get away for a bit. I was hoping perhaps you might fetch Jane for me. If I go to Heimdall Father will know of it."

"Well I see where my usefulness lies."

"That's not it at all! Brother.."

Loki laughed, a full and playful sound that put Thor at ease. "Of course I will fetch your fair lady for you."

"And will you come with us on the trip? I mean to have the Warriors Three and Sif along."

"If I say no, will you let me out of it?"

Thor grinned. "No."

Loki rolled his eyes good naturedly and stood. "Then I suppose I'm going."

"And you'll fetch Jane?"

"I've already said yes. Make sure to have a place in mind by the time I get back. Otherwise Odin will spot that we have a visitor if we linger too long."

* * *

Loki did not make it a habit to seek out any of the Warriors Three without Thor's request. They were on easier terms in more recent times, and the threats had eased between them, but that didn't mean that they were meant to be dear and close companions. So the fact that he was sitting and listening to Fandral rattle on about some pointless tale that he had more likely overheard in the tavern rather than lived was becoming excruciating. He should be getting himself to Midgard and offering Jane a trip to Asgard before Thor was called to another meeting because their father realized what was happening.

"You are going with us, aren't you?"

Loki perked, realizing that he was being spoken directly to now. "Yes."

"That does allow for more options, doesn't it? Sif might be ready to kill you for it. She hates traveling through your pathways."

The prince made a noncommittal sound as green eyes flickered to where Fandral was was leaning against a wall.

"Where are we going?" the swordsman asked at last.

"That's up to Thor."

The blond let out a long sigh. "That means we'll either be fighting off some terrible creature or bored out of our minds. He's bringing the girl, isn't he? It's likely to be the latter..." He stopped, as if realizing just who he was talking to a grimaced as Loki quirked a dark eyebrow upward. "Well... Not that he needs to..."

"Why don't you suggest a place?" Loki asked reasonably. "A few places outside of Vanaheim are nice this time of year, and if we kept to the far section of the woods and don't cross the border, the woods outside of Svartalfheim are very good hunting grounds."

"As long as we avoid their archers?" Fandral teased.

Loki offered a strained smile, resisting the urge to lift a hand to his shoulder. It had been many years since they'd last been to those woods, but there were times even now that the scar that their poison arrow had left in his shoulder ached in reminder. Times had changed though, as the Elves had since retreated further inward towards Svartalfheim.

"There was a good hunt there, even if we nearly started a war," Fandral said thoughtfully. "But you say that the far side of the forest is not patrolled any more? And you think it safe enough for the little mortal girl?"

"Most definitely," the prince answered smoothly.

"Well then we have our place. Should you want to tell Thor? Your idea and all?"

"While I appreciate the gesture I have little use for the credit. I'm off to fetch his Jane Foster now. The honour is all yours, my friend."

The blond beamed and Loki did his best not to roll his eyes as he faded away to Midgard.

* * *

Jane was not overly fond of of coming home to surprise guests. She'd tried to explain to Loki before that it was not socially acceptable to break into a lady's apartment, but every time she mentioned it he would give her his most innocent of smiles and remind her that him standing and waiting outside her New York City apartment might not be best. With a sigh, every time, she had to relent at that. At least he didn't show up at her workspace. She'd been working with SHIELD recently and Agent Coulson had mentioned that the michief god enjoyed unnerving him by showing up every once and a while, if only to prove he could.

He must have been waiting some time as he was nursing a mug of hot tea while curled into the corner of the couch he seemed to have claimed for himself. He had a book propped on one knee, and as Jane dropped bags of groceries on the kitchen floor and kicked the door closed behind her, he held it up for inspection.

"What's this?"

"A theory. I know how you love theories," he answered as she took the book.

Dark eyes slimmed the page that he'd been reading, finding names and races that she'd never heard of. She glanced at him where he was standing to dispose of the mug emptied of the beverage. "Dark Elves," he translated the word she was trying to wrap her tongue around.

"Elves? Like Santa's elves or like Lord of Rings?"

The Asgardian prince blinked at her. "I don't know what you mean."

"Never mind," she huffed. "What's your theory and how can I help?"

"This is to help you, Ms Foster," Loki answered, tone suggesting he'd expected her to catch on quicker. "An interesting legend in that books speaks of a deep magic that runs through the Dark Elves. The legend suggests-" he pointed to pictures that jumped to life in the page, and she couldn't be sure if all Asgardian books did this or it was just his own theatrics - "that perhaps the Dark Elves' earliest ancestors were mortals, living not much longer for each lifespan than a human does today."

"So you're saying that they actively did something to change that?"

"So it would seem. Keep in mind: this is even legend to the Aesir. Before our father's father's time."

Jane took the book now, eyes rapidly reading over the words now that she new mostly what she was looking for. "I honestly thought you'd hit a dead end on it," she whispered.

"I doubt there are any true dead ends in all the realms, only a lack of patience to find the correct route." He sighed softly, thin fingers closing over her hands an pulling the book down so that he might gain her attention. "I've been looking for a clue on this since before we spoke on the matter and this is all I have found. I've set up a way to check into it further, but it does involve misleading Thor."

"I'm not sure I'm comfortable lying to Thor..."

"Not lying, necessarily. I would never ask you to. If it comes down to it, I'll lie to him and ask forgiveness later. It's expected of me and you'd simple be an unhappy participant."

"But why would we need to? Thor... I mean... He wants me to... Doesn't he?"

Loki seemed to catch on to the uncertainty. "Of course he does. I will just have to bring you into Svartalfheim with me, and he won't be happy about that. Our last journey there was less than pleasant."

"So... What's the plan? You do have a plan, right?"

"Yes. I intend to keep Thor and his friends close enough that should we need them they are there, but well enough out of it that they will not alert the entire race if our location." He paused and gave her a very sincere look. "This is up to you, Jane. This sort of thing is complicated and most likely will need to be done on the spot. I won't lie to you and say there isn't a great deal of risk involved, but I swear to you that I will not knowingly take you into harm."

"I know. I trust you, Loki," she said quietly, the weight felt in each word spoken.

Thin lips curled upward at the corners. "A dangerous pastime. Shall we?" he asked, reaching an arm out for her to take. She did and he pulled them through the realms.

* * *

TBC


	2. Part Two

A/N: Going to see Thor 2 again tonight, just saw a clip of the 10th Doctor finding a fez, supposedly from the 50th anniversary ep coming up... It's a good Friday.

* * *

**Part Two.**

She felt like she were lying to him already when she greeted him with a smile that she hoped held none of the nervousness that she felt. It must have worked because he hauled her off her feet as if he hadn't seen her in years and she found herself laughing as her shoes left the ground and the being that had once been worshipped as a god spun her about playfully, all bright cheer and smiles. "Missed you too," she said when he finally put her down.

"Please forgive my absence, Jane. Father has has me very busy."

"Well, it wasn't _years_ this time, so I'll forgive you this once."

Thor beamed and hugged her again.

"Do you have a place in mind yet?" Loki asked. "I can't keep us cloaked forever without alerting someone of the great black hole in his Sight."

"Yes. Fandral said that the outer edges of the woods near Svartalfheim are meant to be far less patrolled than they once were. Perfect hunting without worrying over the Dark Elves."

"Very well, but if I see any archers then I'll make sure they aim for you," Loki said in a falsely sweet tone.

"Certainly Heimdall won't send us that far without Odin's expressed permission," Sif said, the last of the party to arrive. She looked at the way Loki grinned and began to protest even as she felt them shift, landing on the other side and she swayed. "I hate you and someday I will end you before you jump us like that."

"It just wouldn't be one of our little outings without your threats, Lady Sif," Loki said with an even broader grin and offered her a hand up.

Volstagg laughed loudly and shifted the weight of his pack. "Your silver words have never done much for her. Perhaps if you hadn't started encouring her wrath as children..."

"Let's not start that again, shall we?"

"It's so pretty," Jane breathed, taking a step towards the forest.

"Much less so the closer you get to the Dark Elves," Fandral drawled, glancing at an uncomfortable Loki.

"I feel like there's a story here," Jane ventured.

"We're not getting close enough to them to worry about the dangers that come with Svartalfheim," Thor assured her.

"But you've been before?" she pressed. She didn't like the way that Loki seemed uneasy about the subject, and if they were going to duck the rest if them at some point and slip into the Dark Elf terrain, she would at least like to know what they were up against. He'd said that their last visit had been less than pleasant, but that left the adventure open for a wide range of interpretation.

"Loki found out just why you always want an arrow to go through when your hit," Sif answered with a shrug.

"And not getting hit is not an option?" the mortal woman joked weakly.

"Not in my case, apparently," the trickster replied thinly.

She shot him a meaningful look that he ignored, turning to Thor to make some subtle joke that sent the thunderer into an abrupt fit of laughter. The subject was dropped except for a bit of light teasing that made Jane a little sick to think about. By the time they'd been into the forest, hunted - though with the chatter between the lot of them it would be a wonder if the animals ever returned - and returned to make camp for the evening, she'd pieced together what sounded like a very unpleasant story indeed. Something about a poisoned arrow and a powerful sorcerer that had nearly gotten them all killed.

The fire roared that night and so did the laughter. Even Hogun seemed to enjoy himself as stories were passed around. Between Volstagg and Fandral attempting to one-up each other and Loki's attempt to "enhance" the story with an illusion of the villain they spoke of - so real that it had sent the two drunken warriors toppling over in search of weapons and a certain trickster into fits of laughter at the reaction - that the silence that followed some time later was almost deafening. Thor had settled in, his back to the trunk of the tree and Jane leaned up against his broad chest. The rhythm of his deep breathing had nearly lulled her to sleep when she felt something directly in front of her. She nearly jumped to find green eyes staring back, but Loki motioned for her to remain absolutely silent and to follow him.

The astrophysicist shifted so that she could slip from her lover's embrace, silently apologizing to him as he stirred. When she was sure he wouldn't wake, she moved as quietly as she could to where his younger brother was standing. "What if we don't make it back by the time they wake up?" she whispered.

"I've left Thor a note. It should suffice."

"And if it doesn't?"

He frowned, all playfulness gone from his expression. "We should be quick."

He reached a hand out and a blink later they were standing outside of a structure that seemed to go up forever. It was not beautiful and welcoming as Asgard's towers, but left something cold deep with in Jane's chest, to the point that she reached out and grabbed for Loki's arm, fingers clutching the leather sleeve. "Hey, it sounds like you've had some traumatic experiences in there... I don't want you to feel obligated or anything."

"I'm not obligated," Loki answered easily, "but if you are afraid and wish to turn back, I need to know that now. The Dark Elves have powerful magic at their disposal and I can't pull in and out of their towers as I would between the worlds. We'll have to enter on foot, make it to their vaults on foot, and back out in the same manner. Once we're in we should not leave until we're done." He paused, softening his tone in an attempt to reassure her. "This is entirely your decision, Ms Foster. Should you wish to turn back, I place no judgemt on your courage, but should you wish to move forward I'm willing to help you."

She weighed his words carefully, looking for any sign in those sharp green eyes that she should see. "You know, you're a really good brother to Thor," she murmured after a moment.

"I'm really not," he answered with a smile.

"Okay. I want to do this. Let's do this."

"No turning back?"

"Nope. I can do this,"

"That's a girl," he said and flashed her a devious smile, motioning for her to follow his path to what looked like underground tunnel.

They ducked down into them, the smell hitting her almost immediately. She did her best not to gag as she moved closely behind him, dark eyes fixated on the leather coat in front of her. It didn't seem to affect him at all and it suddenly struck her just how different her life might be after this night. Would this spell simply lengthen her years, or would she become like the Aesir? Loki had said it would be dangerous, but she'd gotten the impression that he didn't even know the specifics, and wouldn't until he laid eyes on the spell.

"Hey Loki?" she whispered, her voice still bouncing off the walls.

"Hmm?"

"Thank you."

He never turned to look at her, but she saw the bare change in his posture that spoke of his discomfort in accepting genuine thanks from anyone other than Thor. Instead he only made a small sound of acknowledgment and picked up his pace.

* * *

"I'm going to kill him," Thor threatened, his voice low and angry.

"This... really doesn't explain anything for its length," Sif murmured, folding the parchment and handing it back to Thor.

The blond took it back, skimming the words again. _Trust me_, it said at the end and he sighed. He wanted to trust Loki to keep her safe, but he hardly trusted Loki to keep _himself_ out of harm's way. He loved his brother, and often chose to trust him, even against the odds, but something about this nagged at him. "Fandral, you suggested this location."

"After speaking with your brother, yes," the swordsman said with a yawn.

"Of course," Thor fumed.

"What is he after by taking Jane with him?" Sif asked quietly.

"I do not know, but I intend to find out." The thunderer stood, calling Mjolnir to his hand. "Whatever the play is, Loki has set us all up as pawns in it."

"Not unusual," Volstagg grumbled.

Blue eyes took in his friends and he sighed. "Sif, will you accompany me? Too many will set off alarms."

"Of course."

He nodded, brows knit in frustration with a hint of worry. Whatever it is that Loki had set out to do, the younger prince felt the elder would either disapprove or should not be linked to it, and as Loki had brought them close to the situation but not into it, Thor could only assume the first. He wrapped an arm around Sif's waist, waiting until she had a grip on him as well before swinging Mjolnir in the air and flying them both deeper into Dark Elf territory.

* * *

She was barely breathing, and when she looked at how Loki was pressed against the stone wall she thought he might not be breathing at all. They could still hear the sounds howling dogs down the corridors, the expression on Loki's face doing nothing to ease her worries. Finally, after what seemed like hours, he relaxed and started forward again.

Jane didn't dare speak. She couldn't get the prince's expression out of her mind. He'd gone pale at the sound of the dogs, something pulling in his memory and even now he stepped carefully, giving them no reason to come their way.

"This way," he mouthed and pulled at a large wooden door. It gave a scraping sound, causing them both to cringe, but they slipped immediately in and closed it behind them, a spell softening the sound. "Well that was nerve-wracking," he said in a usual voice.

"Can they not hear us?"

"I've put a spell over the door. It should buy us the time we need." He moved further into the room, thin hands ghosting over the shelves of ancient books kept there. "Here we go."

"How did you know where to look?"

"I _did_ do my research," Loki answered with a broad smile. He began leafing through the pages of the book, careful even as dust flew upward. He found what he was looking for with a bit of help from his own magic, the old words scrawled out across the page with such potenency that his breath caught. He leaned in, one pale finger trailing over the script, the power of it almost intoxicating.

"Is that it?" Jane whispered desperately.

"Yes. This is it. It exists. It truly exists."

"You mean it might not have?"

"I told you it was legend. I couldn't have been certain."

"Well, what are you waiting for? From what you said, we don't have all day."

"This… This is more complicated than I ever imagined." He looked up, green eyes locking with brown and she saw the truth shining in them, afraid and excited all at once. His tone, frightening as it was, fell more to the side of excited. "One wrong syllable, a pronunciation off... _Anything_… and that's it. You, me, it could end us both."

"Are you saying we can't do it?" Jane managed, trying not to sound too disappointed. She couldn't ask him to risk his life for her. Well, not any more than he had already by coming here.

"Oh no," he said hastily. "I just need time. Watch the door?"

She nodded, feeling a bit overwhelmed as he returned to reading it again and again, expression more elated than she thought she'd ever seen. His lips moved soundlessly, forming what she assumed were Elvish words that her tongue would never have even known where to begin with. _Eternity with Thor_, she thought to herself. _Keep focus._

And then she heard it: that howling sound that had set Loki on his guard earlier. He didn't seem to react this time, as if he never even heard it, and she had just crossed the space between them to shake his shoulder when the door flew open. She jumped, and suddenly Loki was in front of her, daggers drawn from their place and he looked ready for a battle. The intruder's name left his tongue in the form of a curse. "Malekith."

* * *

TBC


	3. Part Three

A/N: So most of this was written on my phone to and from a football game tonight. I tell you this to ask forgiveness for any blaring errors... That, and I probably won't catch them because it's about midnight-thirty and faaaaaaar past my bedtime, but I thought I'd go ahead and post an update :)

Oh, as a side note, the Malekith in this story is not, strictly speaking, the Malekith from the new movie. I pulled heavily from what I know of him in the comics for the story Never Enough that preludes this.

* * *

**Part Three. **

The Elf smiled, a twisted expression that moved a mask covering his face, split down the middle black and white. "It has been some time, little sorcerer. Grown up now, I see, and without the hinderance of the last time we met."

Loki shifted his grip on the blade in one hand, green eyes narrowed at the creature before him. "Let us pass and I won't end your days."

"Very brave words from one who stole away into our vaults to steal our belongings."

"I've stolen nothing from you."

"Our magic is not yours."

The prince snorted. "Magic is not yours to hold claims over. I wield it better than half of your most skilled."

The dogs gave a low growl at Malekith's feet and started forward. The smile, echoed on the mask, stretched broader. "You do," he admitted, "though I'd say not better than I."

Jane heard a scream as the room exploded and realized it was her own. Loki turned on instinct and shielded her, his arms wrapped around and the violent outburst striking against stone and board of the underground room, nipping at their ankles and faces alike. He held on tightly to her until it had settled, a strange sort of silence taking its place. His arms loosened around her shoulders, but she continued to cling to the outer garments of his armor, fear paralyzing her there.

"Show off," Loki snorted and he had one of his throwing daggers in his hands before anyone could register. It sailed through the air, caught just before striking and the Dark Elf chuckled.

"Never twice, prince," he said gruffly. "Though, you may want to lay down those weapons. I'm not fool enough to come alone against you."

"Loki?" Jane whispered as guards came into their line of sight, all dressed in identical porcelain masks and thick leather armor. They carried swords and weapons that might have been something like the guns that she knew from back home.

"Stay behind me," the trickster warned.

"Fool," Malekith hissed and he was gone in a puff of smoke, his dogs howling as the lunged at the ready sorcerer. Loki fought with magic and blades and more courage than most of Asgard would ever give an illusionist credit for. Jane screamed his name as he was finally taken down amongst the dozens of Dark Elf soldiers, crying out at the very end before going entirely silent beneath them. She never saw the one that came up behind her, nor felt the knock she received, but darkness came up for her and she found herself floating into it.

* * *

Thor didn't like the distinct lack of guards. It wasn't that he was begrudging the ease of their entrance, it was simply that when a task was too easy, he was sure there was something much, much worse waiting at the end. At least, that had been his experience.

"Perhaps they've already been in and out," Sif offered quietly. "It _is_ your brother, and if he had reason enough to bring her here then he would have come with a plan."

"He wouldn't want to linger," the crowned agreed with a sigh. "Something is not right though."

"Well, I did think it would be quite a strange happening indeed to have found one without the other."

Both Asgardians wheeled around, ready for whatever battle came their way, but a familiar, knowing smile met them.

"Tali," Sif managed, lowering her spear.

"It has been a while. The children grew."

Thor wasted no time with why an Elf that, last they had seen her, should have stayed as clear as she could of her powerful and angry queen-sister. "Then you've seen Loki?"

"Malekith took him to the dungeons along with a mortal girl. What is he doing here?"

"We do not know " Thor said honestly. "We hope to find him and ask before any harm befalls him."

Tail hummed lowly. "Before I could not stomach the thought of your childhoods being cut short by foolish decisions, but now you are adults and know well enough what your actions will bring."

"Then you won't help us?"

She frowned deeply, weighing her options. "We will fetch your brother and I will escort you out. Whatever he's come here for, he must leave it behind."

Thor nodded his understanding. "Of course."

* * *

Loki came to slowly, feeling an ache in his shoulders that reached into his arms and wrists that were clasped tightly above his head. He shifted, noting the sluggishness of his magic, but not a disconnect.

"Welcome back, princeling," Malekith purred, squatting down so that his bright blue eyes were on leven with green.

"Where's the girl?" Loki growled.

"No harm has come to her. Yet. Though I'm very curious as to your purpose with that spell. Did you mean to make her like the Aesir?" The smile stretched when a glare was the only response. "Interesting. Your brother's girl then. I'd heard rumours. I've heard others as well, though much quieter than Thor's wild love affair with the mortal girl." He reached forward and the prince flinched, confused as the pale Elven hand came to rest along his rib cage. There was nothing at first outside of a light pressure, but just as Loki's lips parted to question the other sorcerer's actions, the pressure turned to discomfort, as if his insides were heating up.

"What-?" he managed, the pain increasing with the heat.

"A rumour that you are not a true-born son of Asgard, much less its Allfather."

It was like his insides had been lit on fire and Loki tried to squirm away from the hand against his ribs. Malekith didn't let go as he leaned in, and if anything his fingers tightened. "Surely that can't be, but then I thought of a little boy trying to escape with his brother. No weapons, his magic so strained, and what did he do? He pulled a dagger from the air. An ice dagger."

Loki screamed, the pain ripping at him and finally Malekith pull his hand away, leaving the prince gasping. "Looks like there may be some truth to the rumours after all."

It took a moment for the trickster to gain his bearings, his entire body aching from the heat. He leaned his head back against the stone wall, breaths making their way into his lungs in harsh gasps. "What do you want, Malekith?"

"What do _I_ want? You're the one who came to us."

"So I'll be left to rot here?"

"Or to burn." He grabbed at him again, but this time there was no gradual heat up. It was like a hot knife had been slammed through his ribs, the spell coursing through his veins.

Loki fought it, focusing everything he had and without any outward warning he released a burst of magic. It was enough to throw Malekith back and against the far wall. Green mist worked through the manacles on his wrists and they snapped open just as the angry Dark Elf came barreling toward him, finding only an illusion. Loki was rolling out of the way, coming up in time to barely block the onslaught of power, parrying with his own.

"Clever princeling," Malekith growled. He came around, pulling steel from nothing. A barking laugh left him as ice grew from the prince's fingers, only the final illusion masking the Jotun magic. The weapons clashed and the Elf showed his strength as as he slammed to other back against to wall. "Showing your secrets."

"You've always thought you know more than you do," Loki snapped and the explosion rocked the cell, power rolling off of him. It gave him the opening he needed and before Malekith could pull himself back up, the prince was gone, the lock outside the door sliding firmly into place.

* * *

It was a real mess, that much she knew. They were stranded in enemy territory and likely no one knew where they'd gone off to. She thought the sorcerer that had taken them was the one from the stories earlier that day. Thor had seemed upset by the name and something in the way darkness poured off of him made her understand why. Now they were separated, and just a few minutes before she'd heard a scream that sounded frighteningly similar to the second prince of Asgard's voice.

The door flew open and Jane's head jerked up, tears shining in them. She blinked until Loki came into focus and she was on her feet before she knew that she'd given her body the command to move and she flung her arms around his neck. "I heard these screams," she confessed. "I thought they were killing you."

He stiffened at first, never ready for the sudden contact. "I do believe he meant to," he said at last. "Come. We don't have a lot of time."

Jane pushed back the reaction to the knowledge that they _had_ been his screams, and forced herself to follow as she was told, only a step behind him. As they moved into a bit more light, she decided she didn't like the expression he wore. It was pain mixed with worry that was topped with a sense of urgency. He didn't bother to hide it from her.

"We're likely to be in quite a bit of trouble even if we can slip out without further mishap," he said softly, his voice strained. "Odin will hear of this. When he calls you in, don't argue with him. Just let me smooth it over and he'll most likely put the blame entirely on me. Don't counter it."

"But it wasn't your fault..."

Loki snorted but didn't answer. The turned a corner and he'd stepped so that he meant to pass an open hallway, but a hand reached out from the darkness, taking hold of the leathers around his neck.

"Loki!" Jane gasped, making a useless grab for the trickster. The hand's partner took hold of her as well, pulling her after. She was ready to fight with everything she had when a pair of familiar blue eyes met hers and her lover's name tumbled from her lips and she wrapped her arms around his middle, cheek pressed against his armor.

Thor shifted her into a room and shut the door behind them. "Jane, are you injured?"

"No, but I-"

The crowned prince didn't wait as he spun on his brother, thick fingers wrapping into the material of his garments and he slammed him up and against the stone wall so that Loki's boots were hanging off the floor, green eyes going wide at the suddenness of the action. "What in the Nine did you think you were doing?" he growled, slamming him again roughly, suppressed rage released like a flood breaking through a dam.

* * *

TBC


	4. Part Four

A/N: Get ready for the feels.

* * *

**Part Four.**

Loki let out a startled sound and his fingers wrapped around his brother's wrist to keep from dangling too badly, green eyes sparking. "Thor," he hissed, "put me do-"

Thor's grip only tightened, expression holding more anger than the trickster had seen directed at him in some time. "For all your intelligence, all your cleverness… What were you thinking bringing her _here_ of all places?"

"Thor, please!" Jane called out to him, pulling uselessly at the arm lifted to hold Loki from the ground. "He was trying to help me. He found this spell that might -" She caught his eyes only briefly, though she weren't sure what the message might have been even if she'd held the gaze. She didn't care what he'd said earlier about letting him take the fault for the whole event. If she were to be immortal as they were or die that very day, she wouldn't allow it to be a stepping stone off a lie to Thor, even if it were only a lie born out of her own silence and Loki's half-truths. "He found a spell that might make me immortal. He was trying to help us, not hurt us."

"Immortal?" Thor echoed, turning back to his brother. "Are you mad, Loki?"

"It was a solid enough lead to give it a shot," the trickster murmured.

"And you hid it from me," the thunderer growled. "After all we've-"

"Yes, yes, after all we've discussed," Loki snapped, thin hands wrapping around his brother's strong wrists, trying to gain some control even if his feet no longer touched the ground. His brother had not used physical intimidation in some time now, and the audience of onlookers was making it all the worse. His next words were biting, as they were his weapons to fight back with. "It was her decision, Thor. Would you have let her make it?"

"Magic like that… Even I know it would have been too dangerous."

"Always so self-righteous. You're angry at me for keeping a decision from you, but you would have kept it from her."

Thor set him down, much gentler than he'd hauled him up, and the anger seemed to roll and dissipate in a wave. He moved to clasp the hand that had held him up to the back of his brother's neck, bringing their foreheads together and he sighed as they touched, leaning against one another. "Did you find it?"

"I did."

"And?"

"We were interrupted. I was not able to begin."

"Yet you think it is something you can cast?"

"I do, if given the proper time required."

Blue eyes squeezed close and the hand tightened at the nape of his brother's neck. Of course Loki had seen the tension, though they rarely spoke of it. Of course he had seen the pain that both mortal woman and immortal prince had been in, kept apart by the inevitable future yet not able to break away entirely. He had seen it and he had risked much to bring about something of a compromise that the Allfather, once he was done raging over it, might even come to accept.

"We are not children anymore, Loki," Sif said quietly from her place. "You came into enemy territory with full knowledge of what you were doing."

"That is why I tried to keep the lot of you out of it," the younger prince explained, the elder finally releasing him. "Lot of good that did, hmm?"

"You should all leave now," Tali said firmly, almost forgotten through her silence. She produced a rolled bit of material, and when Loki took it he found his daggers and a couple of his throwing knives he kept on him.

"We're here now, I might as well get one more look at that book."

She sneered at him, none of the softening that might have come about years before by their youth. "You've already seen it. You're a clever one. Cast the spell. How can I stop you?"

Loki snorted. "It's more complicated than all that, and you know it. If I slip up, just a bit, then she, I , or both are dead. Please, I know we're already in your debt and I know you've done much for us over the span of our lives, but once more, _please_. Help me get back to that book and we'll be gone. I won't take a scrap from it, only the words in my own memory. Only the effects." He stopped, glancing back at where his brother had moved to Jane and his voice dropped lowly. "He loves her and she is mortal. I can't bear to see his heart break like that. If not today, then someday. As long as she is mortal it will happen."

"Do you think his is the only one that would ever break? Foolish boy."

"I just-"

"Enough! So clever, Loki Laufeyson. Yes, I know who you are. I've always know. Loki, bringer of chaos. You've brought nothing but pain and misery to the Nine. I know what you did on Midgard. I should have let you die all those years ago. I never knew what tragedy I would bring on an unexpecting people by letting you live."

The room had gone quiet with her words and she and the prince in question stood staring at each other, neither willing to blink or seemingly to move. Finally, when the sounds of dogs could be heard in the distance broke the silence. "I see. Very well then."

"It's okay, Loki," Jane murmured from her place. "We tried. It's more than I could have asked for."

He turned, though didn't look at her. It was Thor's gaze he sought and the thunderer reached out for him. "Come on, brother," he whispered and Loki felt his heart sink, but reminded himself that it was this same maturity that he'd been grateful for and the very same reason he had chosen to seek out an answer to the problem in the first place.

"Right. Let's go home."

"Malekith most likely followed your magic when you first came here. You should be able to shift within the walls, but not out. You'll need to move quickly or he'll be on you before you'll make it to a place where you may return to Asgardian soil."

"Thank you, Tali," Thor said genuinely. "For any trouble that our presence here has caused to you, I am truly sorry."

She smiled at this, though no one would have mistaken it for genuine mirth. "Trouble follows me almost as closely as it does you, prince of Asgard. Now get out. I'm sure we haven't heard the last of it, but at least they won't slit your throats if you're on your own lands."

"Sif?" Loki called, motioning for her to move forward.

She growled a threat under her breath even as they shifted locations, her fist connecting with his shoulder when they landed. "Warning. That's all I ask."

"Well, that's not _all_ you ask," the second prince answered with a wide grin. "Come on. I can't transport us through these tunnels and outside the palace. We must do that on foot and he'll be right behind us."

"You'll be able to pull us through once we get out of the palace though, yes?" Thor pressed.

"Of course."

They wasted no further breath as the raced forward, boots hitting the damp stones of the underground tunnels. Thor pushed back the memories of the last time they'd run through these, Loki barely conscious and hardly healed from the poisoned arrow he'd taken, and the fact that they hadn't made it to the other end. Malekith was on their trail this time as well, the Dark Elf angrier than before. The crowned prince bit back the wish to ask what exactly Loki had done to escape the elder sorcerer's imprisonment, but decided that it was a question better suited for after they'd escaped.

Light shown up ahead, the sun peeking through the hole in the palace walls. Thor took hold of Jane's wrist when she began to fall behind, breaths coming in gasps. "Totally out of shape," she muttered.

"Here," Loki pressed, stopping at the stones that they'd climbed down some hours before. They looked less steady now, somehow, as urgency pressed on them, and he took the first one to offer a hand down to Sif who looked ready to take it off. There would be no quick forgiveness from her for this particular journey. Thor lifted Jane up, his brother taking hold and helping her to the next level just as the dogs rounded the corner. "Come on!" he hissed and Thor scrambled up behind him, dogs nipping at his heels.

The brothers made it out of the hole and into the sunlight just as a powerful burst of magic sent them both flying and rolling onto the grass. The dogs followed, one meeting Mjolnir head on and the other dropped by one of Loki's daggers.

"Go!" Thor roared waving them on. He turned to his brother. "When can you get us out of here?"

"The wards are still too strong here to slip through the branches."

Thor muttered a curse as he called the hammer back to his grasp, swinging it just in time to block a burst of magic from Malekith who followed behind them.

"Thor!" Sif cried out from ahead and the brothers looked to the sky to see the swirling clouds that indicated a stronger magic than even Loki's.

"Bifrost," the said together, and the thought of what that meant was overwhelmed by the thought of home. Thor grabbed hold of his brother and tugged him forward, imagination doing nothing to help the fear that crept in. Malekith knew he would lose them and he'd do anything he could to stop them in that moment. Loki let out a startled yelp as Thor pulled him out of the way of another attack, the Bifrost screaming down around them. The thunderer stared in wonder and confusion at the smug look on the Elven sorcerer's face, mirrored only by the mask he wore, as they were pulled towards Asgard.

* * *

They were pulled through to the Observatory, the sound of the Bifrost all around them and Thor never let go of his young brother's arm. It was hard to see during the journey, but the younger prince looked unharmed by the spell. Perhaps he had only thought he'd caught them with the attack.

They landed steadily and Thor gripped Loki's shoulders. He did not have his attention though and he followed the green gaze back behind him where Jane stood. Her brown eyes were wide and her face pale, a dark red spreading out across her pretty blue dress that she wore. She mouthed his name as her knees gave out and he was sure that he screamed hers.

Loki stood in shocked horror as he watched his brother cross the small space, Sif having been close enough to catch her and ease her down until the prince sank with them. The goddess of war stepped back, locking eyes with Loki briefly. There was blood. More blood than either was sure that a human her size should have bled. Thor was shushing her now, crying openly and the sky above the Observatory grew dark.

Odin was there with Frigga only a few steps behind him, her fingers pressed against her mouth in mirrored horror to her younger son's. Thor seemed to realize their presence after a few moments and ceased his quiet words to his lover only to turn pleading eyes to his father. "Please," he begged, voice breaking. "Please, I know you can save her. _Please_, Father. I'll do anything. I will give _anything_. If you wish her to go back to Midgard and have me never set foot there again, I shall do it, but please don't let her die this day."

The Allfather's expression was stern and he did not budge from his place. "She is mortal, Thor. This would have happened. Let it happen now when it is a quick death with less pain than many of her kind know."

"But you can save her," the thunderer argued.

"To what purpose?"

Loki snorted from his place as Thor bent over Jane's stilling form, thunder echoing his own loud sobs. He started forward towards them.

"Leave him, Loki," Odin commanded. "There is nothing you can do to ease this. Let your brother grieve."

"No," the trickster said firmly and sank down next to them. Thor looked up, eyes rimmed red with tears and a question in them. Loki offered his most encouraging smile. "Will you let me try?"

Thor nodded, easing Jane to the floor and took an unsteady step back, eyes never leaving his brother.

Loki took the mortal woman's hand gently in his own. "It always seems that when I try to do something good it goes very, very wrong," he murmured softly, causing her dark eyes to flutter open.

She smiled up at him. "Hey," she greeted softly. "We tried. All I can ask. More than I can ask. You're… a great brother."

"I'm really not," Loki whispered with a strained smile and squeezed her hand. "I need you to take a deep breath. We're going to give it a go."

"Thought you said it was dangerous."

"Not much to lose on it, is there?"

Odin seemed to realize what was happening. "Loki!" he growled out, starting forward and found a powerful shield in his way. "Foolish boy!"

Loki ignored him as he closed his eyes, bent over the mortal and began to speak, weaving the words of a spell older than anything he'd ever known. They flowed from him, somehow finding their way from his mind to his tongue and he could feel Jane's fingers tighten in his own. He had shut everyone out, including Thor, through his shield and he knew it would not hold up should Odin truly put an effort into breaking through it, so he spoke quickly.

Towards the end of the incantation he felt her go limp and panic began to rise. He pushed through, forcing more of his own magic into the spell and wrapping himself in it tighter with her. Finally, at the end of it, he felt entirely spent and the green-gold shield fell, though no one moved or spoke.

He could hear the sound of his own breathing in his ears and all he could think of was that he'd failed. He'd caused the trouble and had been entirely incapable of setting it right. He had been readying himself to stand and face the tangible grief his brother would portray, but he felt a small hand in his tighten and Jane gave a startled intake of breath as her eyes flew open. They stared at each other for a moment before she let the breath out. "Hi."

"Hello," he greeted back, turning to see Thor's tears had not ceased, though they did at least appear to be tears of joy this time. He moved so that Thor could take hold of her, pulling her fully into his arms and holding her close.

"Thank you," he said again and again, burying his face in her hair.

Loki chuckled as he stood unsteadily, the smile remaining until he looked over to their father. He'd expected Odin's anger, but not the hint of worry that the Allfather wore. He started to question it, but then he felt it as his chest tightened and he coughed, blood bubbling up his throat with the painful gust of air. He knew, as did Odin and Frigga by the look she wore, what a rebounded spell could do. He was surprised with one as powerful as this he'd even made it to his feet again. Well, Thor had said he'd give anything, he thought as his knees gave out under him.

* * *

TBC


	5. Part Five

A/N: Okay... While this is technically the last chapter, it's going to be followed up by two one shots that I'm just going to add as extra chapters. Just so you know.

* * *

**Part Five.**

It took a moment to register that something was wrong. They'd won. Everyone was safe and whole, so how could anything possibly be wrong now? He looked over, fear building in him before he even knew why and he saw his brother laid out on the floor of the Bifrost Observatory. Green eyes were wide and his body was twitching, small tremors running through it. "Go," he heard Jane whisper, proving that she could hold herself up.

Loki was choking and gagging, finally finding the strength to roll to his side by the time his brother made it to him - how could just a few feet take so long to cross? - and blood spilled from his lips, dark and dangerous. His whole body was convulsing now, trembling between the more violent jerks and Thor carefully pulled him into his lap, trying to thumb away some of the blood on his face. "Easy," he managed.

Green eyes rolled back to look up at him and he forced a smile, the words cut short by another onslaught of pain. His brother pulled him up further so that he was leaning against his chest, allowing his breathing to ease ever so slightly, but it took several more moments for him to gain the wherewithal to open his eyes again. Tears stood in them and his voice was rasping and desperate. "I'm sorry, Thor."

"There is nothing in all the Nine you have to apologize for, Loki," his brother assured him through his own building sob. He kissed the top of his head.

Odin knelt down next to them, looking tired and worn. His single blue eye surveyed damage that Thor knew he could not physically see. "You foolish boy," the Allfather whispered, though there was no real malice in his voice. "I cannot fix this damage. The spell is much too old."

"I never asked you to," Loki gasped and laid his head back against Thor. The tears were streaming now, halting his speech as much as the pain. He looked so young and so very desperate as he focused entirely on the man that had raised him. "Will you lie to me… just once more?"

Odin stared at him, looking up only when his wife knelt on their younger son's other side, taking hold of one of Loki's limp hands and cradling it in her own.

The mischief god managed a short, pain-filled laugh when he realized that the Allfather hadn't answered and his words became more distressed. "Please, before I go, just once more," he begged. "I can make myself believe it… just once more."

"What do you need of me, my son?" Odin asked carefully, looking to Frigga briefly as if to beg an answer.

"That you love me," Loki managed, the words dying in his throat as he began to cough again, blood spilling and every muscle tense. Thor shushed him from behind, murmuring in his ear that he was loved by them all, but he didn't hear Odin. He couldn't hear Odin, even if he were saying anything at all. He looked up, feeling the weight of it pressing down on him, holding him under as if to drown him. "Please," he begged again, but the word barely made it from his lips.

"Hold him where he is," Frigga said roughly, and Thor tightened his grip on his brother. The Allmother laid one hand against his face and kissed his brow, not liking the glazed expression that he stared back with. "Odin, we _can_ reverse this. I need your help. I will _not_ lose him again."

Odin nodded and the rulers of the Nine Realms sat on either side of their adopted son, hands pressed down against his chest and his brother holding him at his back. Jane could barely see from where she was still seated on the floor, but she was sure that the amount of power flowing against the rebounded spell was more enormous than anything any of her sensors could have hoped to read. It was silent in the Observatory, Loki's labored breathing and hitched cries the only real sound. Tears brimmed Frigga's eyes but were never loosed down her cheeks as she concentrated with everything she had.

Minutes ticked by, stretching into eternity. At several points Thor was sure they'd lost him, but neither Odin nor Frigga gave in to it or lost their focus. He couldn't understand it, couldn't wrap his mind around this type of magic. He knew Loki possessed the skill for it and the power within him, though they were rarely placed in such a predicament as this. For their long lives, Thor had only seen one rebounded spell, and that had been a fire spell against Loki. That had made sense, but this… He didn't know if he should dare to hope at all.

Finally, in unison, they sat back and Thor blinked. Loki's eyes were closed, but his chest moved up and down with each breath that he took. There was a slight wheeze to it, but nowhere near the strain that he'd been under only minutes before. The thunderer didn't want to let go, as if his brother's life were a mere illusion. He thought how sudden movements could break Loki's tricks, shattering them in bursts of green and gold light and he feared that if he were to move too abruptly his brother would disappear in the same way.

"It's alright, Thor," Frigga said gently, laying a hand on his arm.

"He'll be well then?"

She offered a smile and a nod, looking exhausted. "Master Rowen should take a look at both your brother and Jane."

"Can you… Can you sit with him a moment while I check on her? I shouldn't want him to wake alone."

A laugh left her, soft and sweet, as if the question were one that really didn't need to be bothered with. It didn't, of course, and he returned her smile and shifted his younger brother to lay on the floor. He did not stir as his brother moved off and Frigga pushed back dark, sweat-slicked hair, humming very softly almost to herself. He finally gave the smallest of reaction, leaning into her touch and the smile never left her lips.

Odin sighed heavily and shook his head. "He is stubborn," he murmured and felt his wife's eyes on him though he never met them. He was watching his adopted child, memories surfacing. "He's always been so damn stubborn and it's saved his life more than just this day."

"I couldn't imagine where he would have ever learned it from," Frigga said pointedly.

"Hmm. I do love him, despite it all. Despite all that has happened between us. There is no lie there, for all we've told each other."

The Allmother pulled in a deep breath, shifting to stand as her elder son returned to gather the younger and take him to the healing rooms. She looked down on Odin, exhaustion in every line of her face as it was in his, but there was a strength in her that none could deny. "Next time, try saying that to him when he's awake. You'll be amazed at what it will do for your relationship."

* * *

Thor was certain he was beginning to dislike the healing chambers, mostly because they spent far too much time in them. He never liked how fragile Loki looked against the white sheets or how shallow his breathing often was. Rowen had assured to royal family that it could have - and most likely should have - been much worse. Odin and Frigga's intervention had saved his life, allowing the second prince the chance to fight for it.

Odin was there, listening to the litany of potential side affects that could linger with his adopted son. He nodded at all the right times and acknowledged the bits of advice Rowen mentioned for when Loki woke, but it wasn't until the healer pulled back the sheets and the loose bandages to reveal burn marks in the younger prince's pale skin that the Allfather leaned forward to closely inspect it. The aged Aesir's brows knit and his lips pulled in a deep frown. "This is not from the rebound," he murmured softly.

Thor leaned so that he could peer around his father's broad shoulders and saw what he meant. The burns were in the shape of fingers digging into the skin covering his ribcage, signs of damage beneath showing only faintly. The thunderer felt anger boil within him. Loki had been injured when he'd found him in the bowels of the Dark Elves' home. The younger prince had never let on, and the elder certainly couldn't tell the extent of it now, but guilt at his own raging actions against his brother bit deep. He hadn't even asked. He should have known Loki would hide it if he were able.

"It would seem Loki's healing has taken care of most of the damage caused by this spell," Rowen was saying, covering the burns, "but it would appear...intentional."

Odin nodded and straightened. "This isn't the last we've heard of it all," he murmured, though Thor wasn't sure if he was directing the statement at him until he turned. If he were going to say anything else to his heir, he thought better of it, and instead only clasped a hand to one broad shoulder and moved from the room.

Thor sighed, taking a seat next to his brother. "Do you have an update on Jane's condition, Master Rowen?"

The elder Aesir gave a strained smile. "It would appear that the spell saved her life, but we've seen no sign that it has done anything else. As I told your father, I'd like to observe her for a few days. Just to be sure. It's best if she is left undisturbed by outside forces."

"You are not about to chase me from my brother's side as well, are you?"

"I don't think all the powers in the Nine could move you when you grow stubborn," Rowen said, but not unkindly.

Thor gave a tired smile and waited until the healer was gone to stand and reseat himself on the side of the bed. He'd settled in, leaned up against the headboard when he found a pair of emerald eyes staring up at him. His smile returned and he slid down so that he were stretched out next to his injured brother, on level so that the other didn't have to strain. "Good morning," he greeted quietly.

"Is it morning?"

The thunderer gave a shrug. "No idea. How do you feel?"

"Terrible," Loki admitted softly. "Though I do seem to be alive, which is more than I'd hoped for. Did I hear correctly that the spell has had no lasting affect on your dear Jane?"

"You saved her life with it, Loki. I cannot thank you enough."

"Father could have done it," the trickster snorted irritably. "He should have."

"He didn't. You did. Thank you, brother." Thor paused, feeling his chest tighten in a way that threatened another round of terrifyingly raw emotions. "I... I hope you know that I never meant for you to do it. I love Jane, very dearly, but I would never give you up for her. Please know this."

Loki felt a fond smile tug his lips. "I know this," he whispered and Thor threw an arm around him. His brother held him close and he was too tired and too comfortable to squirm away, so he scooted into the embrace, feeling himself drift off back to sleep.

* * *

A week in the healing rooms was too long and he'd grown restless, but every time he'd mentioned the fact that he was certainly strong enough to move to his own chambers Master Rowen had offered yet another excuse. The second prince was beginning to think that perhaps his mother was behind the stone wall he seemed to be hitting on his own release and he'd gathered the books he'd had with him to spend his waking hours with and was at the door when it slid open.

Jane grinned up at him. "Making your daring escape?"

Dare brows rose. "Have I been caught?"

"I won't tell if you won't."

The prince flashed her a charming smile, though there was a certain level of exhaustion several layers deep. "Walk with me?" he offered and she nodded, following in behind him. They didn't speak as they moved through the healing chambers, and with the way that the healers seemed utterly oblivious to them she was sure he'd used a cloaking spell. When they made it to the outer halls that opened up to the view of the city below, Loki stopped, leaning heavily on the railing. "You wished to speak with me?"

Jane blinked, his voice filling her ears the only sound in the hallway. Everything else was a distant humm below. "Odin's sending me home today. Your scientists can't find anything out of the ordinary with me, so they think it's okay to go." She paused, moving to stand beside him so she could see his face. "I wanted to thank you."

Loki offered a shrug. "It was worth a try. I'm sorry for you that the effects won't be long lasting. At least we bought you some time."

"You make me sound like I'm terminally ill," Jane laughed and received a serious look in return.

"You're mortal. In our terms, you are."

She didn't have a response for that so she sighed, joining him in his leaning. "You really do make a good brother."

"You keep saying that and it's simply not true," Loki grumbled, voice bordering on agitation. "You can ask Thor about the terrible things I've done to him over our lives. Intentionally and not, it's a rather long list either way you go. Just wait a bit. His memory becomes rather rusty just after I've been injured."

"I'm not talking about Thor," the mortal said and felt her whole face heating as she rushed to explain. "On Earth, when you marry someone you marry into their family. I... Well I know it probably won't happen if your dad has anything to say about it, but if it had worked and I'd become immortal and married Thor... well you'd be my brother too." She watched him, unable to read his expression at all. "I've never really had siblings, and I'm just saying that you'd make a great big brother. Not that that's really going to be an issue now, I guess..."

He was staring at her now, his blank mask cracking only a bit to show that the conversation was making him highly uncomfortable. He cleared his throat at last and straightened. "Thank you," he murmured.

She offered him a nervous smile in return. "So the first time I met you, Erik gave me all these warnings, even Thor had given me a few... You were nothing like what I had conjured up though."

A sly grin crossed his features and he seemed to relax more at this, returning to where he'd been leaning. "Did I frighten you, Jane Foster?"

"A little."

"I never knew," he admitted softly. "You hid it well."

She smiled at the confession, one that he never would have admitted to when they first met. Of course, no matter how fond he might have been of her at their meeting, she was certain he never would have put his life in the line quite like he had this time.

"There you are," a voice boomed from behind. Thor was grinning when they turned, happy to have found them both. "You-" he aimed at his brother - "are meant to be resting."

"Forgive me, brother," Loki answered sweetly, "but I fear your kind lady wished to say her thanks. Father isn't banishing her off Asgard, is he?"

Thor's expression turned dark at the thought. "Not to my knowledge."

"Don't look like that. Mother would never allow it at any rate."

"I really should get going," Jane offered.

"I'll escort you." Thor turned to his brother. "Please rest."

Loki raised his hands on a mock form of surrender. "I will be in my chambers," he promised.

Some few hours later that was exactly where Thor found him, curled into a chair with a book held up only by the floor and his limp fingers that had been clutching it earlier. The thunderer felt a smile tug at him and he bent to set the book up on the table.

"Thor?"

"I didn't mean to wake you, brother."

He made a small sound that Thor thought may have been him trying say he hadn't been asleep at all. He uncurled his long legs and pushed himself to his feet, swaying dangerously. His brother steadied him and they moved slowly towards the bed in the back of the large room. The elder prince eased the younger onto the bed and pulled the covers up over him. He turned to leave, certain that Loki would want time to himself after he'd hovered for the past week in the healing chambers, but a thin hand caught his wrist. "Stay?"

"Of course," Thor answered as softly as he could. His wrist wasn't released even when he was buried under the covers with his brother, and when he looked down he was sure that Loki hadn't really woken at all. The dark haired prince was still except for his breathing, curled with a deathgrip on the blond's arm. Thor focused on that sound and the steadiness of it, letting it lull him to sleep.

* * *

**End... but not really. Oneshots to follow!**


	6. Worth a Little Risk

A/N: First of the one-shots I promised to follow the story.

**Worth a Little Risk**

_No more dreaming of the dead as if death itself was undone_

_No more calling like a crow for a boy, for a body in the garden_

_No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love_

_No more dreaming like a girl so in love, so in love_

_No more dreaming like a girl so in love with the wrong world_

~_Blinding_, Florence + the Machines

* * *

The call had come in urgently, but Heimdall could not - or likely would not, as he was speaking to Loki - say what it was for. It required Thor's attention, according to SHIELD, and only Thor's.

"Thor is not available. Do they think he whiles away his time with food and drink like their myths?" Loki snapped, not really caring if the Gatekeeper was at fault or not. Thor had been gone for nearly three weeks on a journey the Allfather had sent him on quietly. He'd heard no word from him about what it was or what he was doing, much less when he'd return. The second prince was well enough healed from his experience with the rebounded Dark Elf magic that he had no trouble keeping up with the meetings that Thor had begun to sit in on… he would have just preferred not to.

"I'll take care of it, like everything else in his absence."

"I do not think that wise."

"Well then it's good I'm not asking for your opinion, Gatekeeper," Loki bit out. "Nor your road. I'm perfectly capable of opening up my own path for it."

"As we are all quite aware of," Heimdall answered with a quirked eyebrow disappearing even further beneath his helmet. "Though I might remind you that your presence on Midgard without Thor is, strictly speaking, forbidden."

"Quaint," the trickster answered flippantly and was gone, fading through the roots of Yggdrasil and to Midgard before the ancient Asgardian had a chance to say anything in return.

* * *

Loki Odinson had a knack for landing where he needed to go. It was a talent, he'd say if he were to be asked, though no one would bother to ask him. He'd found very few that were overly fond of his method of travel, least of which was the Lady Sif who regularly spent her breaths after a trip that weren't pulled in to keep the queasiness down in strained and violent threats. Thor had never really complained, even if it did affect him in any way. He had found it useful when they'd been children and they'd made plenty use of it as adults. The only person that seemed genuinely fond of it, outside of his brother, was Jane Foster. Though, to be honest, Jane had shown herself fond of any sort of travel methods to Asgard, taking note of every detail she could manage each trip. She'd even shown the second prince her notes once and he'd jotted down a formula for her that she couldn't have hoped to understand. When asked, he'd only smiled and changed the subject.

"You are _not_ who we called for," Agent Phil Coulson's voice filtered into his ears and Loki realized he'd landed on what Coulson and his team lovingly called the Bus. He was not a fan, personally, as the last time he'd been on it he'd found himself in quite a bit of pain. Funny, that seemed to be a running trend in his life.

Loki flashed a wide, charming smile. "Agent Coulson," he greeted. "I fear my brother is detained."

"You always say that. Someday, I'm going to wonder if Thor's even alive or if you've killed him off and we just don't know it yet."

"If you're more comfortable with my brother's face, I'm sure I can oblige," the trickster laughed, the illusion falling and Coulson rolling his eyes.

"Little bit creeped out, but not comfortable. Sorry."

"Or perhaps you feel you need someone with a bit more authority in your own circle?"

"You make a terrible Fury."

"I make an excellent Fury if I so choose," Loki answered, his own voice filtering out of Fury's mouth.

Coulson visibly cringed. "Enough. Okay, fine. Don't say I didn't warn you. Dr Selvig won't be happy you're here."

Loki faded back into himself, tilting his head to the side in question. He received no answer and so he simply followed the agent - or, rather, walked to the side of him as Coulson was still weary enough despite everything to not allow him at his back - and into what looked like the medical section of the plane.

"Phil! I told you that I'm _fine_, when are you going to release me?" Jane Foster's voice filtered into the air and Loki paused at the door. She was irate, looking to have been cooped up and tests run on her by the way Jemma Simmons was fluttering about her. The astrophysicist finally looked over. "Loki!"

Erik noticed him at this point as well, letting out an unhappy sound. "You! I'd bet you had something to do with this."

"If only I knew what _this_ was I could give you a definitive answer. Hello there, Ms Simmons. Doing well?"

Jemma smiled broadly. "Hello! Yes, very. We're just finishing up some tests. Dr Foster's readings are off the charts. It's amazing. Do you see here?"

"Simmons, don't show classified documents to would-be tyrants," Coulson groused.

It was too late, as Loki already had his hands on them and his keen eyes skimmed the information. He had personally requested the information the Asgardian scientists had collected from her before she left, agreeing with them that no change was evident. These tests, though organized differently from the ones they had run, told a much different story only a little over a month later. "What prompted these?" He asked, still taking in the information.

"It's nothing, I'm fine," Jane grumbled but seemed to be ignored by everyone in the room.

"She fell off of a ten-story building," Simmons explained, her voice perhaps a bit more excited than it should have been. She motioned for the tablet in Loki's hands and slid it to show x-rays. "You see here? She should be dead the way she hit. Dr Selvig said she fell here-" the image changed to a digital replica of a building, data noting the speed of fall and other bits of information - "and hit here. In all honesty, the way she fell, we should have been-"

"That's enough," Erik cut her off. "We understand she should be dead. She's not. Let's focus on making sure whatever kept her alive isn't going to backfire."

"It's not going to backfire," Jane sighed and turned dark eyes on Loki.

"What were you doing in a position to fall off a roof?" he asked, voice a bit more amused than it probably should have been.

"I study the stars. You really want to ask me that? Is this what I think it is?"

"I would have thought a professional star gazer with a history of working from high places would have had a bit more grace," the prince teased, but paused, mind processing her words. "It worked," he managed, the words coming out as a breath. "Were you hurt at all?"

"Well, yeah, but they've had me locked in a lab for two weeks. Phil heard about it and took over the investigation."

"He's Phil now, is he?" Loki asked with a smile.

"Her bones mended entirely within those two weeks, even the spinal injury," Simmons chirped.

"What did you do to her?"

Loki glanced at Erik Selvig from the corner of his eye. "You should be thanking me. She's alive, isn't she? Twice within a short time period."

"Is this what it feels like?" Jane asked, waving Simmons off and she swung her legs over the edge of the bed. "To be like you guys?"

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves," the prince murmured, but the excitement in his eyes couldn't be fully contained. It had worked. Slowly, by the looks of it, but the healing capabilities were inline with the Aesir and other immortals.

"She wouldn't tell us the story, but I think it's time for it," Coulson said seriously.

Jane told most of it as Loki charmed the readouts back from Simmons. Erik seemed increasingly horrified as she described how Loki had devised a way to get them into the Dark Elf stronghold and how they'd been caught. They'd escaped, she assured him, and Thor had met them inside. Her hands were waving wildly as she told the story, leaving out Tali's words and describing her own fear and panic when she'd been struck by Malekith's attack. Loki never met her eyes, busying himself with the tablet, and she described how he'd saved her life, nearly exchanging his in the process.

"This... Isn't good," Coulson murmured. "You know how this is going to be seen."

"Then keep it quiet," Loki countered. "I don't intend to ever give that a try again."

Coulson pursed his lips tightly. "I wouldn't think your people would want it getting out either."

"Let me handle them."

"So can I go?" Jane asked with a grin.

"There doesn't seem to be anything unstable in her," Simmons assured her boss.

Coulson looked to each person in the room. "Ms Foster is Asgard's responsibility now," he said at last.

Loki nodded his understanding and offered her a hand. She accepted, but turned to speak lowly to Erik for a few minutes. The Asgardian prince sighed, handing the information back to the smiling biochemist. She was chattering away about the amazing healing properties, asking him what else went into it, because certainly a few words couldn't have worked in that manner.

The more he thought on it, the heavier his heart became. It was easy enough to keep this quiet on Midgard. Simmons had seen the Realm Eternal with her own eyes, but her finite, mortal mind still could not wrap around a few words, as she said, doing all this. Other realms would know the possibilities were endless, and likely would they would feel one lone Asgardian prince had overstepped his boundaries in it all. They would hold the same fears Coulson and SHIELD did, though with different reasons driving them. They were superior to the mortals, the creatures their legends were made of, and to have one amongst them that had found the power to make a mortal like them... Well, Loki supposed he'd never been liked well anyway.

"You ready?" Jane asked, tapping him on the arm to pull him from his thoughts. "I want to see the look on Thor's face when we tell him."

He felt his lips tug slightly. "I fear he's been absent from Asgard for three weeks, though certainly he'll be back soon. Shall we?"

She grinned and nodded, calling back to Erik once more that he had no need to worry. He didn't look convinced as they faded away.

* * *

Thor returned two days later and Jane was nearly bursting with excitement. She had run down to meet him as he returned from the Bifrost, leaving Loki to watch from a safe distance at the edge of the palace that overlooked it. The younger prince felt the Allfather's presence before he heard the heavy footsteps and the slight clank of Gungnir as its tip came to rest on the marble floor of the outer hall. Loki hadn't seen Odin since their return, but there was no question in his mind that he knew. Most likely, he'd known before his adopted son had ever left Asgard to check on the situation.

"You have opened yourself up to more than a few troubles, my son."

"This is nothing new."

Odin looked at him, single eye sharp and calculating. A frown seemed to pull at him from head to toe, unhappy with the turn of events. Below them, Jane had met Thor at the edge of the Rainbow Bridge and flew into his arms. His tired stance turned to one of joy as he picked her fully up off the ground and spun her around, the news finally told.

A small smile tugged at Loki and he turned his own intelligent gaze to the Allfather. "I love my brother dearly, but we all saw the destruction he would have brought had he taken the throne as he was. She changed him when none of us could. I think that's worth a little risk, don't you?"

A small chuckle rumbled from Odin and he shook his head. "You boys have aged me," he said as he started down the hall, leaving Loki alone with his thoughts. Jane may not belong there and many might fight to put her out, but as he looked down and saw them coming towards him, his brother calling out to him between rolling laughter, he felt a small smile take hold and he offered a wave back. Some things were most certainly worth a little risk.

* * *

**End... with the exception of the next oneshot. **


	7. Consequences

_Felt it in my fist, in my feet, in the hollows of my eyelids_

_Shaking through my skull, through my spine and down through my ribs_

_Blinding_, Florence+ the Machine's

* * *

Loki could not say he was surprised. It was easy enough to keep the event quiet on Midgard. Mortals, with their limited life spans, often lacked the imagination to bring themselves to believe such things were possible, but the other realms… Well, rumours did spread like fires amongst dry brush. They spread especially fast when it came to the misdeeds of a certain prince of Asgard with a knack for mischief.

Loki couldn't say he was surprised, but that didn't mean he had to be complacent either.

"Who do they think they are to bring judgement down upon me?" he snapped, voice dangerous and biting.

Odin was not intimidated by it. "They are the people that you stole from, Loki. You took what was theirs and they demand payment."

"I nearly lost my life to it. Is that not payment enough?"

The Allfather sighed, looking worn. The Sleep was coming up on him again. It seemed that the time between each one grew shorter and shorter as the years passed. If he were to venture a guess, he'd say that perhaps his two sons had something to do with that.

"I took nothing from them, at any rate," the trickster continued on, pacing the throne room like a caged animal, thin hands waving about as he spoke in animated gestures. "I spoke the words of a spell. They have no right to call any magic only theirs. I too am-"

"It is this or war," Odin growled, single eye flashing in a way that told his adopted son that he was quickly losing patience.

"You'll give me over to them then? Just like that?"

"Don't be a fool, Loki. The arrangements were detailed out before I agreed to them. Your life is not forfeit, I saw to it."

"Then what then?" the second prince ventured, feeling more dread even now. There were things worse than death. Thanos had taught him that. Years and years and years had taught him that.

"It's symbolic, mostly, and meant to make a point to our house. All in all, it could have been much worse." He held out a parchment, Alflyse's family crest adorning it, broken and already read by the Allfather and others. Loki hadn't even heard of the talks until half an hour ago, and he'd been raging since. Thin fingers worked the parchment apart and green eyes read the words and the names signed to it. Odin's was the only one from Asgard. Other signatures adorned it, showing just how wide the rumours truly had spread. So much for keeping it quiet.

"Unless you're willing to give Thor's girl up in exchange for a short period of humiliation and a little bit of pain."

"If they pulled that spell from her forcibly, it would kill her."

"And likely you as well, as closely tied to it as you are."

Loki made a noncommittal sound as he scanned the words again. "Does Thor know? I see he's named here."

"I have not spoken with him on it."

"It is cruel to have him involved in the punishment. He wasn't a willing participant in all of this, and his conscience won't stand for a part in it against me. Can't you take his place?"

Odin didn't argue that he might be able to stand in with less outward feeling than his first born. "I cannot. They were very certain on it all."

"They must have spoken to the Dwarves," Loki muttered, tone resigned to his fate. "They very much enjoyed their little game."

"Will you inform your brother or shall I?"

He sighed. "I'll do it. I'll explain how things are and that he must do it. I'll… say something to ease him in it." He turned to leave, but Odin's voice made him pause at the door.

"You should have left it, my son. The girl was mortal and she had no place amongst us. I know what you did you did for Thor, but he would have moved on. Time would have healed it."

"No, I don't think it would have," Loki murmured. He risked a glance back, a question pulling at his mind. "Did you negotiate for a lesser sentence?"

"They understood that their pride is not worth the life of a prince of Asgard."

"So you did not try, knowing what this truly is?"

"You knew the weight of your quest, Loki. Your actions could have brought war on us. Shy of your life, they could have asked me for anything."

He nodded slowly, feeling the emptiness tug on him more than the hurt.

* * *

To say that Thor was not happy would have been an understatement. He raged as Loki sat, sipping quietly at his tea, no outward sign of his earlier anger. He let his brother rant and rave, speaking of injustice and cruelty of other cultures as if he had never acted in it himself. Loki let him go on, knowing that to interrupt him would be a futile endeavour. Finally he slowed, his broad shoulders slumping and he sank to his knees next to the chair that the younger prince sat in. "Is there no way around it? Won't you fight this?"

"Our only other option is war, Thor." He set his cup down and held up a hand, silencing the blond before he spoke. "I swear to you that if you say that is an option I will put you through the wall, so help me."

Thor snapped his mouth shut again, letting out a frustrated sound through closed lips. He looked up guiltily. "Forgive me, brother. It's not I that they're asking this of."

Loki shrugged. "What of it? It's nothing that I haven't had happen before. It will hurt, but the pain will pass. It's a small price to pay, in the stretch of things."

"So they'll end it after this?"

"That's what they say."

Thor chewed thoughtfully on his bottom lip. "And what you mentioned to me? About Malekith knowing about… Well where the burns came from? Will they leave that as well?"

"I haven't told Father, so I doubt very much that he asked."

"He saw the burns. They weren't healed entirely by the time we got you to the healing rooms."

"That doesn't mean he knows the story behind them." Loki cringed at the thought, resisting the urge to run his fingers over his own ribs where the marks had long since faded. He'd never felt anything like it before and he hoped never to again. He sighed and slipped to the floor to sit with Thor. "Only you know," he said softly.

"I'm grateful for your trust, brother."

The mischief god let out a light snort.

"Don't tease," Thor groused. "I know you give it to precious few. I'm not such a fool that I don't know that."

This brought a smile to thin lips and Loki leaned into Thor's much larger frame. "You're not a fool," he whispered, the words barely more than a breath.

"Oh?" the thunderer asked, straightening and he leaned back, half toppling the much leaner prince over. "What did you say? I think you should say that again."

"You heard me."

"But I didn't."

"You're a terrible liar."

"Please, Loki," Thor asked with a grin that could have brought light to the darkest corner of the Nine Realms. "Just once more, and mean it."

The smile remained, fond and more patient than it was so many other times. "You are not a fool, Thor. You have my trust, and my faith in you."

"Weighty words," Odin's heir murmured and he pulled his younger brother into an embrace, wrapping large arms around his thin frame and burying his nose in dark hair. He felt him squirm, but he didn't let go. "I love you, little brother."

The squirming ceased and Loki sighed. "And I you."

"I would battle every warrior that has ever lived if it would keep you safe from pain."

"I know you would, but in this moment we must remember who we are."

"Is this your advice to me?"

"You did promise to heed it."

"I did."

"And you will?"

"I will, thought I don't like it."

"Nor do I."

* * *

"It would seem that half of the Nine have shown for this little event," Loki murmured as the escorting guard motioned to the open door. "For an inhospitable race, they seem to be hosting quite a crowd."

"Silence, Loki," Odin growled.

"I'll be silent soon enough. There's no reason not to get something in now."

The Allfather grumbled mostly to himself as he stepped forward, met by the ever-pompous Dark Elf Queen. As they spoke, Loki couldn't help but to feel the eyes of those that represented the races of the Nine Realms. Though Midgardians were strangely absent - imagine that - even a Jotun was present and the second prince of Asgard was just about sure it was the same oaf that seemed to never die. He grinned toothily at him, scarred hand against the hilt of his blade.

"Well it looks like everyone turned to get a chance to see my humiliation."

Thor grasped his shoulder, opting against his urge to simply pull his brother close. He would have enough strain against his pride this day, there was no reason to indicate to those around him that he might be afraid. "I will be right here."

"I'd say so. You're doing the deed." Thor cringed and Loki's thin lips dipped in a frown. "Sorry."

"Don't apologize."

"Loki," Odin called, motioning to where he, Alflyse, and the newly appeared Malekith stood.

"Quite a turnout. Did you charge a fee to come in?"

The Allfather looked ready to backhand him and Malekith snorted. "Even now you make a mockery of us, little prince. We'll see who's laughing at the end of it." His mask moved as a sly smile stretched beneath, the porcelain never giving way to the mangled mess that it hid.

Loki only offered the most disingenuously broad smile he could muster.

Alflyse tilted her head up, her height not quite matching the prince's. "You've been informed of your punishment. It is, without a doubt, the lightest punishment you could receive."

"I never took anything from you. Any punishment is more than I deserve."

"You used our magic to enchant and lengthen a mortal girl's life. You stole from us, Loki Odinson, and be grateful it's not your life in return that we demand. These things often require an equal trade."

"It's good, then, that I know my spells. I fear that I stay well enough away from those sorts."

She rolled her eyes and waved her hand. Thor was escorted forward and a Dwarf met him, holding out a thin needle. Loki felt his chest clench at the sight of it. The Dwarf leered at him for a moment, but then looked quite pleased as Alflyse read the sentence - many chiming in with agreements when she again pointed out the lightness of it - and spoke of the intended humiliation. "At least for some time your clever tongue will not bring chaos to the Nine," she finished.

The heir to Asgard's throne stepped forward, great hands trembling very slightly as he stood before his younger brother, all eyes on them both. "There's still time," he urged softly so that only Loki could hear.

Loki offered him a reassuring smile. "I knew the risks."

Thor nodded his understanding. "I shall never let anyone again say that you are not brave," he swore, putting one large hand to the side of his brother's face, thumb under his chin to hold him steady.

"Get on with it, Thor."

He nodded, tightening his grip slightly on both needle and brother. The emotions were building deep in chest, but he could feel the terror of it in every extremity, flushed through his system so that it ripped like claws at him from head to toe. He leaned forward briefly, touching their foreheads together before lifting the needle.

Loki flinched and closed his eyes, pulling deep breaths in through his nose. Thor was being as gentle as one could be when putting holes where they should never go and with each thread pulled through thin lips, the trickster could almost feel his brother's heart breaking. A small whimper escaped him by the fourth stitch and green eyes flew open at the pain. He could feel the blood seeping into his mouth and he tried not to choke on it as he forced it down his throat.

Tears were streaming down Thor's face, large and silent as he worked. He looked as if everything in him were working against what he knew he must do. His instinct was to protect, not to harm. Their eyes met on the sixth stitch over and another trembling sound left the younger prince's throat. His hands, having hung at his sides clenching and unclenching against it, came up to hold himself steady against Thor, fingers burying themselves into the deep red fabric of his cape and the crowned prince paused.

"You're not done," Malekith called over to him.

"Just a moment, please," Thor begged, his own pride put aside.

"There were those that wanted to gut him. Perhaps if you don't finish this we'll move to that option instead."

Loki made a low sound, his fingers clenching at his brother. Green eyes finally caught blue and Thor couldn't bear to look for a moment. Finally he nodded, hearing the words his brother could not speak, and pulled the stilled needle through. He worked as quickly as he could without becoming sloppy, finishing it up at the far corner and the magic worked into the Dwarves' wire sealed itself. They stood still for a few terrible moments, Loki focused on pulling breaths in and out through his nose, refusing to loose any tears down his own pale cheeks. Thor's had slowed now and he leaned forward, whispering pain-filled apologies.

Murmurings could be heard around the room and Malekith's boots echoed as he approached. "You'll understand if I make sure no trick was cast, yes?" he purred, forcing Thor to take a few steps back. When he didn't remove himself further, he waved towards Odin. "Go on."

"Thor," the Allfather called and his eldest reluctantly moved away.

Malekith's mask moved to smile and he leaned in, bright eyes inspecting the work. The stitches were there, solid proof that the brothers had held their end. The Elf lifted a hand, thumb working over the thread and smearing blood. Loki's breathing was suddenly much less steady as the low voice reached his ears. "I wanted to tell the worlds what you are, little prince. Imagine Odin, Allfather of the Nine, stealing a child of Jotunheim and raising it as his own." Bright eyes met green and Loki glared through the pain. "But my queen was influenced by the soft heart of her sister. I suppose I shall have to settle -" Loki could feel his skin heating, across his mouth and the spell flushed through him as Malekith's hand went to his neck. He couldn't hold back the strained and panicked sound, muffled as his lips struggled to part and only pulled at the stitches - "for knowing the House of Odin's secret."

"Enough," Odin boomed from his place. "Alflyse, will you not honour our agreement?"

"I will," the queen relented. "Malekith, release him. The Odinson is free to return home."

Malekith's hand lingered just a moment more until Loki's knees gave beneath him, sending him to the floor. He gave a snort as he moved away, barely missed by Thor as he ran to his brother's side.

"Loki?"

Green eyes were open and watching, and the younger prince made a sound that Thor took to mean he was as well as he could be in their situation. He held him close, careful of injury and pulled him to his feet. Loki was leaning heavily, but he could walk out of the stronghold. None of the crowd said a word as the brothers moved out, Odin with them. Their eyes simply stared at the bent form of the raven haired prince, soft and terrible laughter following behind just as the doors closed.

* * *

The trip home was silent. Heimdall said nothing as they were pulled through the Bifrost and he caught sight of the mangled mess that was the younger prince's mouth. Loki was tilting as he walked, unsteady in each step and his brother wrapped a careful arm around him. Odin moved ahead as if to leave them and his eldest called out to him. "Have I done something, Father, to anger you so that you'd risk everything I love being torn from me?"

"Loki is hardly in any danger," Odin said without turning.

Thor's hands tightened around his brother and even if he'd been able to speak, the trickster was unsure that he would have. So he watched the event unfold, the figures blurring ever so slightly.

"No, but you would have let him die here in the Observatory. Just as you would have let Jane die had Loki not stepped in. How dare you-"

"How dare _I_?" the Allfather boomed, turning on his eldest. "There is a reason I have not passed my throne to you yet, Thor. For all of your growth that you have done you still miss one key aspect of ruling: that the kingdom _must_ come first. That girl, mortal or otherwise, is a blinder to you. You think of nothing when she is in your sights. Loki knew what he risked when he cast that spell. His education is the highest that any Aesir might attain and he furthers it himself every day. He knew what he was doing and the fact that I was _unable_ to save my boy on my own says _nothing_ for my care of him, do you understand me?" The king pulled in a deep breath, near to shaking with the rare display. "And today may have pained your heart, but it will pass. It would have pained you much more had we fought the Dark Elves and Malekith slain your brother in the fields. He wants Loki's dying breath and I shall _not_ give it to him."

Silence filled the Observatory as Thor held close to his brother, unsure of what to say. "Father, I…"

"No. Keep your thoughts until you know your own mind on them and I have had my rest. Otherwise I might fling you to another realm for a time."

Thor couldn't be certain if the words had been meant as a jest, but he nodded. "I'll get Loki to Master Rowen."

"It will do him little good. The stitches will be removable in a few weeks' time. I shall do it myself when I wake. I'd ask you not to engage with the Dark Elves in any manner." He turned his gaze on Loki, single eye softening in the smallest of degrees though the hard line of his mouth did not. "There are dark days ahead of us, my sons. Your Jane Foster is now wrapped into it, though she would have been safer with her fragility on Midgard."

He said nothing further as he turned, leaving his boys to the quiet that Heimdall often brought with him. When they were sure he'd had enough of a head start not to cross his path, the two sons of Odin moved towards their chambers.

* * *

Frigga had been the one to dab away the blood on her younger son's lips and to tell them both that Odin had fallen into the Sleep. She assured her elder son that his responsibility lied with his brother, no matter what Odin had told him of putting Asgard first beyond everything, and she would handle any official matters that came about.

It was late, the sun long set when Thor slipped into his brother's bedroom again. He found the younger prince sitting on the edge of the bed, clothed in loose sleeping clothes that hung off him as if he hadn't eaten in years. The thunderer sighed, enough noise to make his presence known, and moved forward to the silenced trickster, waiting until he received a nod of acknowledgement to sit on the bed next to him.

Loki listed to the side, his temple coming to rest against Thor's strong shoulder. The blond said nothing as he wrapped an arm around his back, a steady comfort between them. All of his words seemed so small in that moment, looking at what had happened and their father's dark words of the future. He didn't know what to make of it and the one he would have sought counsel of could not say. They sat there for what seemed like hours until they climbed under the covers together, no question that either would frown on the other's company that night. Neither would be immune to the terrors that would plague their dreams.

* * *

**END**

A/N: So I came across a fantastic set of drawings on Tumblr the other day that the sewing scene was sparked from. I'm sure you saw it if you follow me there. Broke my heart and then I went back for more lol.


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